News

2010-11-24 17:18:58.467

Fenton Man Says Lottery Website Led to $27,777 Prize

For William Meppiel of Fenton, it was a detail on Molottery.com that spurred his decision to purchase a “Show Me 7s” Scratchers ticket. That decision, in turn, led the AT&T business analyst to a $27,777 top prize.

“Someone recently told me about a numbers strategy,” he said, referencing the Scratchers pages on the Lottery’s website that list estimated prizes remaining for each available Scratchers game.

“At the time, I think it said there were six of eight top prizes left, so that’s how I made my decision to buy that particular ticket.”

Meppiel said he bought 10 tickets at a time, once a week or so, for the past three weeks.

He said the last batch was probably in his pants pocket for four or five days when his wife discovered them.

“She said, ‘Oh, you have some scratch-offs in here,’” he recalled. “We sat down and scratched them right there. When I started to see it materialize, I said, ‘Oh my God, Theresa, I think I hit the big one.’ Then we walked around in a daze letting it sink in.”

Meppiel purchased his winning “Show Me 7s” ticket at QuikTrip, 1923 Bowles Ave., in Fenton. “Show Me 7s,” a $2 game that officially began Sept. 25, offers more than $6.2 million in available prizes. Details about remaining prizes for this game, and all Missouri Lottery Scratchers games, can be found on Molottery.com.